Information Display System

ABSTRACT

A display apparatus within elevator cabs or elevator waiting areas that facilitates the simultaneous display of advertising and general news information is described. Broadcast from a remote control center, advertising and general news information updates are transmitted to, and stored in a server located within a building and then forwarded to a display memory and subsequently displayed on a monitor according to a remotely modifiable program schedule. The display is updated such that it contains a copy of tile latest broadcast schedule, as well as the advertisement and information programming, and automatically displays a days program according to the most current broadcast schedule. The display units as well as the building server are each individually addressable thus allowing groups of displays to be simultaneously updated from a remote centralized location with information such as news updates, customized advertising information and the like.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/220,000, filed Aug. 31, 2005, and issued on Sep. 18, 2007 as U.S.Pat. No. 7,270,219, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.10/950,216, filed on Sep. 24, 2004, and issued on Jan. 3, 2006 as U.S.Pat. No. 6,981,576, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.10/669,060, filed on Sep. 23, 2003, now abandoned, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/885,532, filed on Jun. 21,2001, and issued on Sep. 23, 2003 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,826, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/457,867, filed on Dec. 10,1999, and issued on Jun. 26, 2001 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,428, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/154,633, filed on Sep. 17,1998 and issued on Jul. 4, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,500, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/834,876 filed on Apr. 10,1997, and issued on Dec. 1, 1998 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,181, whichclaims the benefit of the priority date of Canadian Patent No.2,199,757, which was filed on Mar. 12, 1997. The contents of all theforegoing applications are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to an information transmission and display systemand in particular to an information display system for displayingadvertising and general news information in elevators and the like.

BACKGROUND

In most urban centers, exposure to information such as advertisinginformation and current news information has become an accepted part ofeveryday life. Apart from newspapers, magazines and television, massadvertising information is presented by way of billboards and morerecently pixelboards™, which are capable of displaying relatively simpleanimated pictures and textual information. However as with mostinformation, and in particular with respect to advertising information,it is more effective to have both a captive audience and a well-targetedgroup in order to maximize the effectiveness and impact of theinformation conveyed. Most urban centers have a large number of majoroffice complexes. These office complexes include multi-storied buildingsserviced by elevators and large common areas providing a heretoforeunexploited environment for presentation of advertising and newsinformation. Display systems for these environments should have theability to target specific audiences with the information they present,respond quickly and easily to information changes, and provide aconsistent high quality image and information content.

To date, information display systems for elevators are capable ofpresenting at most the floor number, a floor directory of tenants and insome cases simple text based news information. For example, U.S. Pat.No. 4,995,479 to Fujiwara, describes a display apparatus for an elevatorin which information regarding the operating conditions of the elevatoris displayed along with “general” information, such as news and weather.A display unit provided within the elevator cab and includes a displayarea for displaying text alongside a picture display area for displayingpredetermined graphic images. Predetermined pieces of information areassembled, and each piece is assigned a number indicative of a priorityfor that piece of information. The information is selected to bedisplayed according to the priorities assigned. Limitations of thissystem are that the messages are not easily updateable and informationis restricted to basic text and primitive graphic data. Furthermore, thesystem does not provide for an easily updateable real time informationdelivery and display system.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,629 to Tsuji, et al., a display apparatus for anelevator is described, in which information concerning news, weather,etc., is displayed on a display screen located within the elevator cab.The information is selected to be displayed at predetermined times. Thedevice described in this patent allows for the information displayed tobe corrected (i.e. other information displayed) through inputs maderemotely from the elevator cab, for example, from a caretakers room or aportable computer. Once again this patent discloses a simple scrollingmessage display system, which although updateable via a remote computer,requires extensive user intervention to constantly update the displayedmessages. Furthermore, the display of the information is dependent tosome extent on the operational parameters of the elevator.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,897 to Matsumoto, et al., an elevator displaysystem is disclosed in which the operational information of theelevator, in particular a floor indicator, is superimposed on abackground image on a display screen. The background image is describedas being a plurality of still pictures assigned to the different floorsat which the elevator stops or different kinds of animations assigned tothe different floors. Once again, this patent does not disclose a methodof simultaneously altering the information in a series of elevatorsindependent of a particular elevator operational state.

Thus, based on the current state of the art regarding elevator and foyerdisplay systems, there is a need for a system for displaying real timeinformation content targeted to a specific audience and which providesthat the information is centrally coordinated and disseminated.Furthermore, currently available systems do not provide a system that iscompletely site addressable with the potential for a building, includingmultiple elevator banks within a building, to have its own unique dailyprogram. Furthermore, there is a need for a system that is capable ofcommunicating on a daily basis new information relevant to tenants orusers of the building and which is capable of replacing the relativelyineffective paper and poster notification methods currently in use alongwith the associated manpower costs. Furthermore there is a need for asystem that makes use of display technology that offers highly legible,easily understandable stills, animated graphics, pictures and videos.

There is also a need for a display system that is both flexible that canbe installed in existing elevator banks and can provide an advertiserimpact close to the point of purchase and can effectively target anextremely attractive market place and which does not necessarily requireextensive government regulatory approval.

SUMMARY

This invention seeks to provide in an information display system aninformation display apparatus and a method for easily updating displaysin the system such that information composed at a centralized locationmay be easily presented at the displays.

It is an object of the present invention to provide general informationdisplay units which may be located in elevator cabs and waiting areas.

A further object of the invention is to facilitate remote control andautomated information updates, simultaneously, to a number of displayunits located in elevator cabs and waiting areas.

A further object of the invention is to provide time sensitiveinformation to the display units, and to provide such informationindependent of elevator operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide an information andadvertising presentation in a relatively easily understandable mannerutilizing a relatively high-resolution display capable of displayingamongst others, picture quality advertising and information graphics andall manner of information display including still images, 2-D and 3-Dcomputer animations and full motion video and which may be easilyintegrated into existing elevator cabs and waiting areas.

In accordance with this invention there is provided a device fordisplaying information in at least one elevator cab, the devicecomprising:

a display means including a display screen located in each elevator cabsaid display adapted to receive and display information on said screen;

a building server located in the building in which each elevator cab islocated, the building server being adapted to communicate information toeach display means; and

a central server remotely located from the building servers,

wherein the information to be displayed is transmitted from the centralserver to the building servers and then to the display means.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and other advantages o the present invention will become moreapparent from the following discussion of preferred embodiments of theinvention and which are described by way of example only with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which like elements have been assignedlike numerals and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a network configuration of aninformation display system according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a network configuration for a specific aspect of thegeneral network configuration;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a display unit;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the information flow from a centralcontrol to a display;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation including updated andcontrol of the display;

FIG. 6 shows a front view of an information display monitor;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing the update of advertising informationto the display; and

FIG. 8 is a further flow diagram showing the update of information tothe display.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic network architecture is shown generallyby numeral 100. The network includes a centralized control center orsystem server 110 which communicates via suitable communication links112, with city control center servers 114. Each city may include one ormore servers 114, however each server 114 has associated, therewith, anumber of buildings in a given city. The group of buildings serviced bythe city server 114 is identified by reference numeral 116. Although asingle city server 114 is shown per city group, this may include morethan one city server within a given city.

Each city server 114 then communicate in turn with individual buildingswithin its group 116 via communication links, for example via atelephone line, a wireless communication, infrared or any suitablecommunication link. Within each building, for convenience, is a furtherserver, denoted a building server 120, which is then responsible forcommunicating with the individual elevator banks within the building. Adisplay unit 210 is located within each elevator bank for displaying theinformation communicated thereto. In a further embodiment of theinvention, the central server may be configured to communicate directlywith the building servers and not necessarily via the city servers. Forclarity, buildings may include a group of buildings, such as forexample; an office tower cluster comprising several distinct officetowers.

The architecture of the network within a building is shown in greaterdetail with reference to FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 2, an office complex,includes one or more buildings 200. The buildings 200 are serviced byone or more elevator cabs 210. Within each elevator cab is located adisplay means 212, which is a self contained unit including a flatscreen display 310, typically a liquid crystal display, a microprocessor312, a mass storage device 314, a memory (RAM) 315 and a power supply316 as shown in FIG. 3. The building server 220 is connected to eachdisplay means 212 within each elevator cab via a cable 230, which may beincluded within the bundle of cables already provided to the elevatorcab. In a further embodiment, however, the display and the building mayinclude wireless communication devices. As it is anticipated that thepresent system will be retrofitted into existing elevators, the use of awireless communication link between the display and the building serveris desirable, as the existing wiring to the elevator may be difficult toaccess. Furthermore, providing a display which is separate from theexisting elevator control system obviates the need to obtainauthorization from elevator service companies before performingmaintenance or updates on the information display system.

By providing individual servers 220 within a building which areindividually and uniquely addressable allows, in addition to enablingcommon information to be received by all other buildings, the ability toadd additional individualized information pertaining to a specificbuilding to the general information content. For example, a buildinglandlord might include with the regular programming information,information on interruptions due to maintenance, emergency procedures,vacancies, etc. Also, with the proliferation of shops within buildingcomplexes, advertising information for these businesses may also beeasily included with the building specific information. However, it maybe seen that because the buildings are serviced by centralized cityserver 114, the bulk of the information displayed is synchronized witheach building and the building specific information will not interruptthe information transmitted to other buildings within the network, whilestill maintaining centralized control and delivery of generalizedinformation to the other elevator display units within the city.Furthermore, although the system is capable of displaying informationwithout interfering with the elevator control system, floor numbers andfloor specific tenant information may also be displayed on the screens.This information may be derived from the elevator control system withoutinterfering with the display of advertising or other news informationwhich is displayed simultaneously in the elevator cabs.

In FIG. 3, a detailed block diagram of the display device is showngenerally by numeral 300. The display device includes an electroniccommunication means 318 such as an Ethernet card or other suitablenetwork protocol card. The communication means 318 may also support RF,or infrared signals. The display also includes a computer 312, memory315, mass storage device 314 (such as a hard disk drive) and a suitablepower supply 316. A display screen 310 is also provided for displayingrelevant information. Most typically, this display screen is a colorliquid crystal display as used for example in laptops. The display unitcomponents are encased in a suitable housing (not shown) which may becustomized to be esthetically integrated with the elevator cab interior.

In a further embodiment of the invention, information to be displayed onthe display screen is transmitted to the building servers 220 and thentransmitted in real time according to a schedule stored on the buildingservers 220 to the displays. This embodiment provides for a relativelyless expensive display within each elevator cab, as it does not requirethat the displays include a processor or storage device. Furthermore, insome instances, where space in a elevator cab is at a premium, it ismore advantageous to implement this embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, the flow of information from the centralizedcontrol center 110 to the individual displays within the elevator cab isshown generally by numeral 400. The control center referred topreviously in FIG. 4 includes a system server computer 410, whichgathers information pages for transmission to the various buildingservers. These information pages may include, for example, trafficreports, subway or train schedule updates, news clippings such asbusiness and financial news, stock market updates, sports, weather andany other information of relevance to all or specific cities. Inaddition, the information may include building updates, i.e. informationspecific to a specific building or groups of buildings within a city oracross cities.

For example, in North America, it is not unusual for a single realestate company to own various office complexes in different cities.Should it be desired that building information be provided to all of areal estate company's buildings, this information may be compiled at thesystem server site and appended to the existing general information.Because all building servers are individually addressable from thesystem server, the specific information destined for the requisitebuildings may be communicated to their respective displays withoutaffecting the information being displayed in other buildings. Oncedelivered to the building server, the information is relayed to theappropriate displays via the internal communication links of thebuilding that, as mentioned earlier, may include wired, wireless orinfrared links. In this manner, a display unit in any location can bereached from a central control point and information provided thereto ina consistent and timely manner. Furthermore, since the displays areindividually addressable, advertising, information and schedulingupdates are addressed to specific displays only when and whereappropriate.

Once the relevant information has been communicated to the appropriatedisplay apparatus in the elevator cabs, the information is processed bythe computer within the display apparatus and then forwarded to thedisplay screen. Referring to FIG. 6, the display screen may be dividedinto two general areas, namely an information display area and anadvertisement display area. Thus, both types of information may besimultaneously displayed. A different number of display areas within agiven screen may also be implemented.

Referring to FIG. 5, information to be displayed on the screen istransmitted to the display apparatus as described earlier along with abroadcast schedule. The broadcast schedule determines when the nextinformation or advertisement information is to be displayed and in whatsequence they are to be displayed. As may be seen in FIG. 8, theprocessor within the display apparatus checks the broadcast schedule andbased thereon, directs the appropriate information from the mass storagedevice to the display screen, which then displays the information in theappropriate area of the screen. While the appropriate information isbeing displayed on the screen, the processor performs a constant checkof the date and time and then performs a check for any changes in thebroadcast schedule. Changes in the broadcast schedule may includechanges in content of information to be displayed or times at which theinformation is to be displayed or both. If there has been a change inany of the information content or the scheduled times of display of theinformation, the appropriate information is loaded as per the revisedschedule and displayed on the screen with reference to the sequence inFIG. 5.

A similar check for changes in the content and time sequence display ofthe advertising information is performed as indicated in FIG. 7. Thus,it may be seen that concurrent to the display of current advertising andcurrent information, the display apparatus checks for updates to theadvertising or the information content and schedule and loads the nextappropriate advertising or information content for display. When thecurrently displayed advertisement or general information content hascompleted displaying, the next scheduled advertisement or information isthus displayed. This sequence of events thus provides for seamlesschange of information and advertising.

Further, there can be an unlimited number of information screensscheduled for display which may be further displayed in any combinationand for any predetermined length of time. The information displayed mayinclude high quality computer generated graphics or picture qualitystatic images displayed for a predetermined period of time, videos,animations or any combination of information. Furthermore, there is alsoprovided, in an alternative embodiment, the facility for including soundwith the images.

In the above embodiment, the information to be displayed on the screensis uploaded from the building server computer to the individual displayunits in the elevator cab where the information is then processedaccording to the schedule included with the information. In anotherembodiment, the information may be fed in real time from the buildingserver to the display unit, in which case the display apparatus does notstore any significant amount of information thereon. Furthermore, thedisplay apparatus may also provide for the return of diagnostic ormaintenance information to the server in order that the display unit maybe monitored remotely without the need for maintenance personnelintervention, thus further reducing the overall cost of the system. In astill further embodiment, the building server may receive informationfor display not only from the central server, but from other informationsources such as CNN, sports or direct internet access.

Thus, it may be seen that the information display system of the subjectinvention may be implemented in various forms. Although the embodimentsare shown with reference to specific examples, other modifications maybe possible. For example, an embodiment of the present invention mayequally well be utilized in subway cars, hospitals, trains or othersimilar places. The individual buildings may also include severalservers. These and other modifications to the variations upon thepreferred embodiments are provided for by the present invention, thescope of which is limited only by the following claims.

1. A system for displaying information, the system comprising: a firstdisplay screen mounted in a first elevator cab located in a firstbuilding, the first display screen having a plurality of display areas;a second display screen mounted in a second elevator cab located in asecond building, the second display screen having a plurality of displayareas; a first processing system coupled to the first display screen forcontinuous display of information thereon, the continuous display beinguninterrupted by elevator operation; and a second processing systemcoupled to the second display screen for continuous display ofinformation thereon, the continuous display being uninterrupted byelevator operation;
 2. A method of displaying information in elevatorcabs, the method comprising: at a server remote from the plurality ofbuildings, compiling scheduling information for scheduling display ofcontent; transmitting the scheduling information from the server to afirst processing system associated with an elevator cab in a firstbuilding; transmitting the scheduling information from the server to asecond processing system associated with an elevator cab in a secondbuilding; on the basis of the scheduling information, retrieving displaycontent; arranging the display content for display on a plurality ofdisplay areas; displaying the display content on a display screenmounted in the elevator cab in the first building; and displaying thedisplay content on a display screen mounted in the elevator cab in thesecond building.